Hanging
by Azusasan
Summary: Slightest hint of Isaac x Garet dash of humor. Due to a careless error on his part, Isaac is sent flying over the edge of a cliff. But the concern of one oafish 'friend' may change that.


Hanging  
  
* * * *  
  
[ Ignore the past, don't pursue the future, live for now ]  
  
(( A/N: Another ditty I came up with after listening too much to my new DAI CD. Isaac-introspective; and the most subtle Isaac x Garet implications I could possibly manage. A dash of humor, because angst is starting to be bad for me. ))  
  
* * * *  
  
Oh, it wasn't smart. I knew it wasn't. I'm sure Mia knew, Ivan knew, maybe even the oaf Garet knew. But it wasn't -my- fault in particular. No, it wasn't. Ivan and Garet had to argue over who had the first watch, and Garet, being the violent one he is, pushed Ivan, and the poor kid fell into some crackly brush.  
  
And that, of course, is what brought those ugly, foul-smelling pig-warriors on. Wielding their swords and spears and grunting piggish warcries, they jumped on us. I was most glad Mia was there, now that I think on it. Mia was on one of her 'red days,' as my mother called them, and being of unhappy emotions, she took her staff, whacked one pig over the head with it so hard, he went down. Unfortunate for him and the rest of the orcs. We had to do very little, as Mia went on her rampage, yelling random scoldings for jumping on a woman who was on her monthly at nighttime.  
  
But one of those cursed orcs managed to get away from our furious Imilian healer, and began slashing at me for all Iris could care. It wasn't smart of me to just stand there, joking with Ivan and Garet, thinking delicate little Mia could possibly take -all- of them down by herself. That one pig- warrior snarled at me, and taking the flat of his blade in his free hand, he pushed me. Hard. As in, enough-momentum-to-take-me-over-the-cliff-hard.  
  
Mia turned around and saw me fall, and with the most fearsome yell I have ever heard in my life (It made me shudder violently), she cast Ice Missile on that orc, and he crumbled.  
  
Why was I thinking that now, though? I'm still hanging, you see. And fairly down low. Middle or so, I guess. And I'm starting to slip. One can only hang on so long to a small ledge by one hand. I see images now as I hang above death...  
  
* * ~ * *  
  
"Isaac," Garet said as they sat at the edge of the lake, their feet dangling in the cool water, "What's it like to... kiss someone?"  
  
"I dunno," his friend replied, taking a stone and throwing it across the water. It skipped twice, before sinking. "What -is- it like?"  
  
"I'm asking you," the Mars adept returned huffily.  
  
"Well..." Isaac said slowly. "Haven't you kissed Jenna?"  
  
"Yeah, but -- "  
  
"You have?"  
  
"I never -- "  
  
"Have you really?" Isaac turned his blue eyes on Garet, who was staring at some tree in the distance. "I thought you hated Jenna..."  
  
"I do!" Garet cried. "I haven't!"  
  
"You have or you haven't?"  
  
"I haven't!"  
  
"Really." Isaac chuckled to himself, taking another stone and skipping it across the surface of the calm lake.  
  
"She's a pyro -- pyro -- "  
  
"Pyromaniac."  
  
"Yeah." Garet frowned. "She's like my sister. Why would I kiss her?"  
  
"Impulse?" Isaac suggested.  
  
"Ew." Garet grimaced, shuddering. "Do -you- want to kiss her?"  
  
"No," Isaac said simply. "Never."  
  
"Do you want to kiss... me?"  
  
Isaac shoved him into the water.  
  
* * ~ * *  
  
I still remember that vividly in my mind. I still remember the sharp pain when Garet asked that one last, joking question. I was only thirteen then... Why would I care? Jenna was pretty, sure. But Mia is pretty, too. And I have to admit, Garet's little sister is fairly pretty, too. But I'd never kiss any of them. Jenna's practically a sister. Mia's too dangerous. And being Garet's brother-in-law is just a frightening thought.  
  
Considering... no. No, I shouldn't think that...  
  
"Isaac!" It's Ivan. "Can you reach the rope?"  
  
It hurts to breathe at this point. I croak, "No."  
  
The weathered rope is snapped back up, and I can hear Mia grumbling to the rest of them as she works with it. I close my eyes. This might be the last time I hear her, or Ivan, or Garet.  
  
"What about now?"  
  
I look up. The rope is hovering above my nose. My hands, even through the gloves I wear, are chilled by the night's frigid air.  
  
"Yes." My voice is hardly above a whisper as I dig my toes into some small crevices and force myself up to grasp the rope in my numbed fingers. "Go."  
  
I almost fall halfway up, due to my frozen fingers, but my ever-present Djinn put themselves to work and warm them, allowing me to hold the rope tighter.  
  
"You're almost there, Isaac!" Mia calls. I can see her glossy hair blink in the dim moonlight.  
  
I can see the rest of my friends now. While holding onto the rope, I push on some crags in the cliff face with my feet, and at last, I'm sitting on solid ground, panting for breath in the cold night air.  
  
"Isaac! Are you okay?"  
  
I cough. "Fine." I pull myself up, flexing my fingers. "Are all of them gotten rid of?"  
  
"Yep. Thanks to Mia." Ivan says, handing me my dropped sword. I take it and sheath it instinctively.  
  
"You boys do none of the work..." Mia sighs.  
  
"Why should we?" Ivan asks in response.  
  
My eyebrows go up.  
  
"I'm sorry!" Ivan wails as he races back into our sleeping area. Mia chases him, waving her mace like a madwoman and screaming her lovely head off.  
  
Garet and I stand there, watching them disappear into the woods.  
  
"Are you okay?" Garet asks me. I turn to face him. His concern warms me.  
  
"Actually..." I start. Garet blinks. I pause, thinking. "Actually, I'm alright." I smile, feeling all fear vanishing.  
  
He seems relieved. The oaf, he can't catch onto hints at all, can he?  
  
"That's good. We can't have our leader ill or dead now."  
  
And he turns around and heads back to camp. I'm left there, standing near the cliff edge I was thrown down. I walk to the edge, and look at the inky blackness below me.  
  
"I was hanging there." I say softly. "Not anymore."  
  
Then I leave the cliff as well, joining Mia, who was trying to roast Ivan, and Garet, who had decided to take first watch.  
  
I'm glad I'm not hanging anymore.  
  
* * * *  
  
ende  
  
* * * *  
  
If you get the mention of hanging at the end, I lurve you. It means, basically, that when Isaac was pulled up, he wasn't hanging on that line of 'I do like/love you' or 'I don't like/love you' anymore. Hidden meanings; shnee.  
  
And concerning Isaac's form of... speech, I guess... Well, someone ASIDE from Mia has to be eloquent all the time. And I chose Isaac. DEAL.  
  
-Azusasan  
  
[12/16/03] 


End file.
